Santiago Gomez, 2, center, and his brother Hector Jr., 4, right, prepare to take off in their modified electric ride-on car built by Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team, left, in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Santiago, who has cerebral palsy, is unable to sit in the electric ride-on car his parents bought last December but the robotics team with help from the Go Baby Go project modified the car with velcro straps to hold him upright. Other modifications include a second large button accelerator on the
passenger side so Santiago can control the ride-on car and an emergency kill switch that turns off the car. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Two-year-old Santiago Gomez has a tricked-out, new ride courtesy of Santa Margarita Catholic High School’s robotic team and the Go Baby Go program.

The robotic team presented Santiago, who has cerebral palsy and is unable to sit up on his own, with the retrofitted electric mini car, which has been outfitted with Velcro straps to keep him upright behind the wheel.

With the Beatles song “Drive My Car” playing, Hector Jr. Gomez, 4, drives an electric ride-on ride-on car in to the gym at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. He is joined by his parents Hector Gomez and Silvia Bautista, and brother Santiago, 2, carried by his mother, along with the Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team who modified the electric ride-on car with the help of the Go Baby Go program. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Hector Gomez, left, his wife Silvia Bautista, and son Santiago, 2, who has cerebral palsy, listen as Santa Margarita Catholic High School’s director of robotics Jason Lawrence, right, details the how his team with the help from the Go Baby Go program modified an electric ride-on car for Santiago at a school rally in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The electric ride-on car modified by the Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 has a second large red button accelerator to allow Santiago the ability to control the car, a dashboard switch to divert to control to either driver and an emergency kill switch that turns off the car. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Santiago Gomez, 2, left, and his brother Hector Jr., 4, drive their modified electric around campus Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. The car was modified by the school’s robotics team as part of the Go Baby Go program. Santiago, who has cerebral palsy, is unable to support himself in the electric ride-on car his parents bought last December but the robotics team modified the ride-on car with velcro straps to hold him upright. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Driving away in their new ride-on car, Santiago Gomez, 2, left, and his brother Hector Jr., 4, right, zip past the Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Santiago, who has cerebral palsy, is unable to sit in the electric ride-on car his parents bought last December but the robotics team modified the ride-on car with velcro straps to hold him upright. Other modifications include a second large button accelerator on the
passenger side so Santiago can control the ride-on car and an emergency kill switch that turns off the car. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Santa Margarita Catholic High School’s robotics team, in blue, and physical therapist, Bessie Cheng, bottom left, use Velcro to strap in Santiago Gomez, 2, who has cerebral palsy, into a modified electric ride-on car in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Santiago is joined by his brother, Hector, Jr. 4, in the driver seat. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Hector Jr. Gomez, 4, driving a electric ride-on ride-on car is joined by his family, left, father Hector, mother Silvia Bautista, and brother Santiago, 2, along with the Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team as they enter the school’s gymnasium during a rally in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018 to unveil the modified electric ride-on car built for Santiago, who has cerebral palsy, by the robotics team as part of the Go Baby Go program. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Santiago Gomez, 2, center, and his brother Hector Jr., 4, right, prepare to take off in their modified electric ride-on car built by Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team, left, in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Santiago, who has cerebral palsy, is unable to sit in the electric ride-on car his parents bought last December but the robotics team with help from the Go Baby Go project modified the car with velcro straps to hold him upright. Other modifications include a second large button accelerator on the
passenger side so Santiago can control the ride-on car and an emergency kill switch that turns off the car. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Driving away in their new ride-on car, Santiago Gomez, 2, left, and his brother Hector Jr., 4, right, zip past the Santa Margarita Catholic High SchoolÕs robotics team in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. Santiago, who has cerebral palsy, is unable to support himself in the car his parents bought last December but the robotics team modified the ride-on car with velcro straps to hold him upright. Other modifications include a second large button accelerator on the
passenger side so Santiago can control the ride-on car and an emergency kill switch that turns off the car. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Wednesday afternoon, when Santiago arrived at the Rancho Santa Margarita school with his parents, Hector Gomez and Silvia Bautista, and his older brother, Hector, Jr., 4, a row of students from the robotics teams awaited them – stepping aside to reveal the blue car with white racing strips.

Hector, Jr., jumped into the driver’s seat as Santiago’s physical therapist and the robotics team members helped strap the 2-year-old into the passenger’s seat. After a quick Velcro modification to give Santiago more support, his brother hit the accelerator and the boys cruised around campus to the cheers of the students.

The students had also wired a second accelerator button that will let Santiago control the car and an emergency kill switch that can turn off the car if needed.

Go Baby Go is a national program that modifies the mini cars to fit the needs of children with mobility limitations. The Santa Margarita High students will be retrofitting more cars this year in partnership with the program.

Santiago, his family and the car were also the special guests during a school rally in the the gymnasium. With the Beatles song, “Drive My Car,” blaring in the background, young Hector drove the car into the gym as more than 1,700 students cheered.

“It feels great,” said Eric Friestedt, 17, a member of the robotics team said. “Finally seeing these life skills being put to use for good and benefit of others makes it all worth it in the end.”

Leonard Ortiz has been a staff photographer at the Orange County Register for 30-plus years. Leonard has covered a wide variety of assignments ranging from major disasters to food and fashion. Over the years his assignments have taken him to Antarctica, Vietnam, and The Philippines and he even spent three weeks inside the containment dome of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to document the refueling of a nuclear reactor.